Media captionDoctor Jose Luis Castellano described the crash site as "very painful" to behold

It says Aerolíneas Damojh was subject to previous investigations: in 2010, due to a crash in Puerto Vallarta, and in 2013 following a complaint from an airline pilot.

The authority has run "annual checks" on Aerolíneas Damojh, the statement reads, with the most recent in November 2017. All aircraft have to renew their airworthiness certificates every two years.

The head of Guyana's civil aviation body, Cpt Egbert Field, told the Associated Press news agency that the plane that crashed had been barred from using Guyanese airspace last year after authorities found its crew were overloading luggage on flights in Cuba.